All Hell Breaks Loose
by Junebugsm
Summary: Stef and Lena find out about Callie and Brandon's intimacy and give them an ultimatum.
1. Chapter 1

**Stef and Lena find out about Callie and Brandon's intimacy and give them an ultimatum.**

(A short story where Stef finds out about Callie and Brandon having sex and Callie realizes it was a mistake. I can't stand Braille and I really hope the show finds a way to drop it completely. They did it, they stretched it, now they are just rubbing it too far.)

* * *

"Callie and AJ do make a cute couple." Lena said as she watched the two kids through the kitchen window.

"They do." Stef agreed, turning to look where her wife was looking.

"He's a good kid." Lena observed of the boy in question.

"He's so excited to go to San Fransisco." Stef said. "And I think Mike is just as excited to take him." She laughed.

"It's nice that Mike is giving this talk." Lena said, feeling oddly proud of her wife's ex-husband. "He's really come a long way."

"Yeah." Stef agreed, smiling at how much her ex-husband had struggled to get to where he is. "He's earned it."

"It'll be good for him." Lena added. "He seems to do well when he has someone else to take care of."

"I doubted it when he started helping Ana out, but he proved me wrong." Stef stated humbly. "These kids need a role model and Mike's good."

"AJ seems to think so." Lena said as she finished pouring herself a bowl of cereal.

"Right now, I don't think AJ can think at all." Stef laughed, watching the boy and her daughter make out as though they were never going to see each other again, unaware of the dirty look she was getting from her eldest son.

The two finished getting their breakfasts together and joined their oldest and youngest sons at the table.

"So what's on the agenda for today?" Stef asked one of the only two kids in the house, the other still currently occupied out back.

"Just hanging around here." Brandon shrugged, trying to avoid staring out the window at the couple still glued at the lips.

"I'm taking Callie down to school with me." Lena said between bites of cereal. "She wants to use the photo lab for the twin's party pictures and then she said she'd help me get the groceries."

"That sounds like fun." Stef smiled, glad that her wife was getting some one on one time with their newest daughter.

"It will be, if I can pry them apart." Lena laughed, turning to watch the two still making out.

"They're young and in love, leave em be." Stef said, remembering the days when that was Lena and her.

"She definitely has good taste." Lena teased. "If I were seventeen and straight, I might have fought her for him."

"Hey, you didn't see me at seventeen." Stef pointed out proudly as she teased Lena back.

"Oh, I'd pick you over anyone any day." Lena assured with a grin, boosting her wife's ego.

"You'd better." Stef warned playfully.

"They'd make cute babies though." Lena laughed, turning her attention back to the couple and imagining a brood of little Callie's and AJ's running around the house.

"Please, let's not give them any ideas." Stef said. "One pregnancy scare was plenty." She recalled Mariana's close call.

Lena laughed, she occasionally loved working her wife up. She would become all flustered and Lena loved to watch her squirm and she'd been so tense and serious lately that it was nice to finally be able to just joke with her and make her laugh.

"Well, we'll give Romeo and Juliet over there another couple of minutes and then we really have to leave." Lena said, pointing to the two still outside.

"Please, they are anything but Romeo and Juliet." Brandon mumbled in disgust. Callie was definitely Juliet but AJ wasn't Romeo - no, Brandon was supposed to be Romeo.

"What was that?" Stef asked, frowning at her son.

"Nothing." Brandon snapped, getting up to dump his bowl in the sink and go upstairs.

"Hey." Stef called him back. She had a feeling of what her son was so upset about but she wanted to be sure.

"What?" Brandon asked in annoyance as he spun around to face her.

"Tone it down please." Stef said warningly. "Want to tell me what's going on?" She asked, afraid that her son hadn't fully gotten over his crush on Callie.

"Nothing." Brandon spat. "I'm just sick of _watching_ them and _hearing_ about them and _listening_ to them." He ranted, pointing outside.

"Well, I'm sorry but you're going to have to get used to seeing her with him." Stef said flatly, hoping that over time he'd get over all this.

"It's not like she's in love with him." Brandon scoffed with a disgusted laugh.

"Maybe, but she will fall in love one day and you need to accept that Brandon, don't ruin everything we have over a crush." Lena said, hoping to make him see reason..

"It's not a crush, we're in love." Brandon corrected, forgetting that he was supposed to keep quiet about it.

None of the three noticed AJ finally leave and Callie head back towards the kitchen just in time to hear her brother.

"BRANDON!" Stef yelled in anger. She knew her son had been hurt by his feeling for the girl but she honestly thought it was all over and they had moved past it.

But by now Brandon had accepted the fact that he'd said too much and wasn't going to stop until he'd made his feelings perfectly clear. He'd kept it all bottled up for far too long and now that he'd opened that can of worms, he was just going to let them all loose.

Callie couldn't believe what she was hearing and before she could try and stop him, Brandon just said the words she hoped would never be spoken.

"It's true." Brandon said with just as much force as Stef. "We love each other and we're committed to each other."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Stef asked with an uncontrollable fire in her eyes. She knew what it meant. It was crystal clear what it meant but a very small, very optimistic part of her hoped like hell that she was wrong.

"We had sex okay." Brandon said, eyeing Callie for a moment, trying to judge her reaction.

Stef and Lena both looked between the two in absolute shock. They couldn't believe this was happening and they'd had absolutely no clue about it.

"When?" Stef asked in horror, ignoring the apologetic look Brandon was giving Callie and the terrified one Callie was giving back. "When did the two of you have sex?" She asked in slight disgust.

"Um..." Brandon swallowed thickly. Suddenly his determination and bravado had disappeared. His mother was looking at him with daggers, his other mother looked so worried and worst of all, the love of his life looked terrified.

"WHEN?" Stef bellowed, turning to Callie for an answer since her son didn't seem to be giving her one.

"Stef." Lena said gently, hoping to calm her down a little. She'd never seen the woman this angry and while she herself was angry and upset she knew she had to reign it all in, for everyone's sake.

But that just added more fuel to the fire for Stef instantly turned to face her wife. "Do you get what they are saying?" She asked in terrified surprise. "Do you understand what this means Lena?"

Lena had no response for she did know what it meant and she was just as angry and worried as her wife and while she had better control of it - she didn't fault Stef for her reaction. It seemed as though their entire family was falling apart right in front of them and there was nothing anyone could do about it.


	2. Chapter 2

"What the hell is wrong with the two of you?" Stef asked as she tried to wrap her mind around everything she had learnt.

"When exactly did you two have sex?" Lena asked, still waiting for the answer to her wife's question.

"In Idyllwild, after the concert when mom had a headache and you guys came home." Brandon answered, not noticing the slight flicker in Stef's eyes as she recalled why they'd really left early.

"Where was Mariana?" Stef questioned Callie, wondering if the younger girl knew about this little affair.

"Asleep." Brandon answered answered honestly when Callie still remained frozen in her spot.

"Is that the only time?" Lena asked, wondering just how far this was going exactly.

"Yes." Brandon said. The sneaking around while Callie was at Girls' United hadn't lead to anything so there was really no reason to bring all that up.

"Look, it's not like we broke any rules okay." Brandon tried to justify. "She wasn't my sister then and she wasn't even my foster sister then. She was living with Rita so we were just friends."

Stef squinted her eyes at her son wondering if he truly believed what he'd just said. "Is that really what you're telling yourself?" She asked in disbelief. "Are you really even _trying_ to justify this?"

Brandon didn't respond for he wasn't sure what to say. Yes, that's what he kept telling himself because while his head knew that it wasn't right, his heart was telling him something completely different. He loved this girl and, much like Romeo and Juliet, he couldn't see how true love could be wrong.

"And what were you thinking?" Stef turned to Callie, wondering what was going through the girl's head right now and at the time. "After all this you were willing to risk it all?" She questioned.

Callie sucked in a breath for that was exactly the reason she'd done it in the first place - she thought she'd already messed everything up and there was nothing else left to lose.

"Is this really what you want?" Stef questioned the girl. "A relationship at sixteen that may not even last through the rest of high school?"

As Lena watched she could see just how uncertain the girl was. For Brandon it wasn't that hard - it was just his heart on the line but for Callie it was her heart, her head and the rest of her life. She'd had to choose between a family and a boyfriend and she'd tried to keep both.

"Well, you're going to have to pick one." Stef shook her head when the silence continued. She turned to her son. "You're going to have to figure this out because I am not going to just turn a blind eye to this."

"Stef." Lena said in surprise. She couldn't believe what Stef was saying.

"No Lena." Stef stopped her. "You can believe what you want but this is wrong and I won't sit back and allow it." She said. "The two of you need to figure out what's more important and when you come to a decision you come and find me." She said before turning around and marching up the stairs to her room, slamming the door in frustration.

* * *

"Honey." Lena said as she entered the room after a few minutes.

"I can't believe they did this." Stef said in anger, seemingly not even having heard her wife. "How could they risk everything like this? I'm going to kill them." She said, heading towards the door again.

"Honey wait." Lena stopped her. She knew Stef wasn't actually going to kill them but she was sure at the end of it all they'd wish she did. "Let's just all take a second to calm down okay." Lena suggested.

Stef huffed, knowing that when Lena said _we_ she actually meant Stef and Brandon. Lena may be angry but she was much more level headed than her partner and Callie was just too scared, too shocked and too uncertain to say anything yet.

"What are we going to do Lena?" Stef asked in desperation as she sat down on the bed in defeat. "We can't just ignore this, tell me aren't just going to ignore this."

"No." Lena agreed with her wife. "We won't ignore it but technically Brandon was right - they weren't siblings yet and Callie wasn't in our care." She rationalized.

"That is so..." Stef trailed off, finding that it was the weakest excuse.

"We make sure their feelings are dealt with and we supervise them." Lena suggested.

"We cannot watch them twenty-four-seven Lena." Stef rationalized. "That's just no possible."

"Let's just talk to them okay." Lena said. "Let them explain, really explain and let's see what they are feeling. Maybe it was a one-time thing. The finality of Callie's adoption could have played a part in all this."

"And what if it's not Lena?" Stef asked. "What if it's the same thing from before - what if they think they are in love and can't just let to go? What then?" She asked.

But Lena had no answer for neither of them could really imagine the possibility. What could they do? Could they really reverse Callie's adoption? Send her to live with Robert? Consider her extended family - Jude's sister or god-forbid, Brandon's wife? Stef had finally begun to believe that once Callie was adopted their problems would be over - but clearly she was way off.

* * *

"So mom and I talked and we have a few questions." Lena said as the four of them sat on the deck in the back yard, away from prying ears. "We want honest answers please, we want to get to the bottom of this and we need you to answer as best you can."

Brandon and Callie sat in separate chairs, Callie looking nowhere but her own hands while Brandon kept glancing at her though the corner of his eye.

"This only happened once?" Stef asked, needed to begin the questioning and skip the encouraging, assuring chitchat.

"Yes." Brandon answered.

"What happened between our wedding and Idyllwild?" Stef asked the next question.

"We met a few times while Callie was at Girl's United but then after Grandpa's funeral we realized she needed a family more than a relationship and so we ended it." He explained.

"Until?" Stef asked, wondering when it all started up again.

"The fundraiser." Brandon said. "After Sophia tore up the papers we thought Callie couldn't get adopted and we kissed."

"That's it?" Stef asked, raising her eyebrow. "Just a kiss."

"Yes." Brandon assured. "Nothing happened after that. We realized we were wrong and then the ambulance showed up and..." He shrugged, remembering how everything changed after that.

"Okay, go on." Stef said. "What next."

"We tried to be friends - just friends." Brandon said. "We hung out and played music and nothing happened even though we still had feelings for each other." He answered honestly.

"What about Mexico?" Stef questioned. They'd told her what they did and how they talked their way back into the country with their passports but it had never sat right with her and all this time she assumed it was because of the fright from finding the pregnancy test.

"Nothing happened in Mexico." Brandon answered. "She just wanted to go hand gliding." He assured.

"Well, then why take Brandon?" Stef asked, directing the question to Callie for the first time.

Callie continued to remain silent, staring at her hands wishing like hell she could be anywhere but here.

"I had the carneys." Brandon answered for her. "I was really just her ride." He answered, sounding just a little bit hurt at the thought.

"Okay, I believe you." Stef said, finally accepting that as the truth. Now that they were telling her everything she figured they didn't have any reason to hide this.

"Then what?" Lena asked, just as desperate as Stef for them to go on.

"Nothing until Idyllwild." Brandon said. "We were the only two away, Mariana had gone to bed because she was upset about Matt. Callie thought that her chances of getting adopted were over and..." But he was interrupted.

"Why?" Stef asked with a frown. "Why did you think that?" She asked Callie again. "Robert had already signed away his rights by then so why did you think you wouldn't get adopted?

Callie continued to remain silent, afraid to say anything, ashamed to say anything. After everything they had fought through for her to risk it all like this made her extremely uncomfortable but at the same time it was nearly impossible to hide her feelings for the boy sitting next to her.

"Why Callie." Stef said firmly, interrupting Callie's thoughts, determined to get an answer.

"I had sent Rita a voice recording of Carmen admitting that she was on drugs." Callie said, in practically a whisper, knowing that Stef wouldn't just accept silence from her any longer.

"So?" Stef asked, wondering what that had to do with her adoption.

"On it I also admitted to seeing Brandon while I was at Girl's United." Callie explained, still avoiding eye contact. The truth was out now so there was no need to hide that detail any longer.

"We thought that Carmen or Rita would tell and Callie wouldn't get adopted." Brandon finished for Callie.

Stef and Lena shared a look, neither of them comfortable with the fact that Callie's mentor, someone she clearly looked up to, had kept this a secret and just pretended it wasn't an issue. Maybe if she'd talked to them they could have all worked this out sooner and avoided this whole mess.

"When we got home the next day you said the adoption had been approved and we didn't do anything else again." Brandon finished.

"Just like that?" Stef asked, wondering how, if they were as in love as they claimed, did they just turn their feelings on and off as they pleased.

"Yes." Brandon answered. "Callie was seeing AJ and then I met Courtney and we just tried to move on." Brandon said.

"But you still have feelings for each other?" Lena confirmed.

Brandon and Callie both glanced at each other slightly, unaware of how to answer exactly. They did have feelings and though they tried to move on it was always each other they were thinking of.

"Well, you guys are going to have to figure this out." Stef said, upset with what the two of them were implying. She wanted them to say it was a mistake and they had realized it as soon as it happened but to watch then look at each other with stars in their eyes was just not acceptable to her. "You have to learn to forget each other or else Callie is going to have to live with Robert." She stated flatly, too angry to come up with anything else.

"What?" Brandon asked in shock as both their heads snapped up so fast it was surprising that they didn't snap off entirely. "Why?" Brandon asked in disbelief.

"Because, you two cannot be brother and sister and still have a relationship, that's why." Stef stated flatly. She had tried to explain this right from the beginning but clearly neither of them had been listening. They were both old enough to understand the consequences and now that Callie had a safe place to go, maybe it was for the best.

"So what you just _undo_ her adoption?" Brandon said like it was a bad word or something.

"It's called Reverse Adoption." Stef explained. "Callie can live with Robert and then you won't be breaking any rules." She said.

"Well, why can't I go live with dad then?" Brandon glared at his mom, upset at what they were implying. "It's the same thing right?"

"Actually it's not." Stef said, glaring right back at her son, wondering how he was overlooking so much when he seemed to think he knew it all. "Living with your father would still make you and Callie siblings." She answered.

"This is bullshit." Brandon said in anger. "It's just semantics." He said said in frustration. "It's not like Callie's really my sister so why the hell is it so wrong?"

And for the second time Callie's head snapped up so fast she actually hurt her neck. She couldn't believe what Brandon had just said. He'd said it before but he claimed he hadn't meant it like that. But for him to say it again clearly meant that it's what he was thinking. She wasn't really his sister, they weren't really her moms. It was just a piece of paper that said she belonged to them now, it didn't really hold any meaning so they could do whatever the hell they like.

Before Stef or Lena would respond to Brandon, both having noticed Callie's pain, Callie spoke up.

"Is that what you think?" Callie asked, the hurt sounding clear in her voice. "I'm not really your sister?" She questioned.

"That's not what I meant." Brandon said, realizing he dug himself and even deeper hole than the last time. "I just meant..."

But Callie cut him off. "Yeah, I know what you meant." She said, finally realizing that even if he covers it up and apologizes and uses different words, it was obviously what he honestly thought.

Callie turned to Stef and Lena with a boldness she hadn't shown since this whole mess began. "I can live with Robert if you want me too, you can undo my adoption if that's what you really what but I am done with Brandon." She stated clearly. "It was a mistake and I should have listened to you but it won't happen again." She said, looking at Brandon as she said the last bit.

The three of them watched Callie walk away and then Stef and Lena turned towards Brandon to see him staring after the girl. They could see something had changed in their eyes. Callie no longer looked at him the way she had before - she she finally realized that she and Brandon wanted different things. Maybe she saw that her family was more important than something that clearly didn't meant the same to the two of them or maybe she was just hurt and realizing what Brandon truly felt. But either way - Stef and Lena were certain that it was over now, for good.

"Let her go." Lena said when Brandon took a step towards the direction Callie had taken off. "You have to let her go Brandon." Lena said, no longer just meaning right now in the moment but for good.

Brandon looked helplessly at his moms. Maybe he was wrong, maybe they were mad but right now he didn't know what to do and just like any other kid from a safe, stable, loving home - he turned to his parents for guidance.

"This isn't love Brandon." Stef said gently, remembering to keep in mind that he was also hurting. "It's not what real love is. You'll get over it. It hurts now but I promise it will pass and at the end of it you don't want to have ruined her entire life over it." She said, knowing that it wasn't either of their intentions to make this big of a mess. They were just two teenagers who thought they were in love.

"If this isn't real love then what is it?" Brandon asked, unable to even grasp what real love might actually feel like.

"Infatuation." Stef said. "That's all. Maybe intensified by the thought that you want what you can't have." She added. "You will both get over it, I promise."

* * *

"You think it's really over?" Lena asked Stef as they watched Callie curled up on the porch swing looking a little defeated, listening to the sad, melodramatic music wafting from upstairs.

"I think they both only saw what they wanted to see." Stef answered. "Brandon doesn't feel like she's not his sister." She assured. "He feels it with the twins and Jude but with Callie he just didn't want her to be his sister so that they could be together." She explained. "And Callie needs time to understand that she belongs, no matter what anyone says."

"It's like they're heartbroken." Lena observed.

"They are." Stef said. "Maybe they don't really have feelings for each other but they did just realize that what they had wasn't real." She said.

Having talked to Brandon just a few weeks earlier about his feelings for Callie made her realize that just because it wasn't real or intense didn't mean that it didn't hurt.

"They are good kids." Lena smiled as she rested her head on Stef's shoulder.

"They are." Stef agreed, turning to kiss Lena tenderly on the head. "They are good kids even though they make mistakes."

"So what now?" Lena asked, wondering where they go from here. They weren't delusional to think that it would all end so easily - the feelings may come back and they had to be on top of it this time.

"We keep talking to them, keep an eye on them." Stef said. "Remind them we're there when they need us."

"I can't believe we nearly lost Callie over this." Lena said, still finding it hard to grasp that all this happened in just a few short hours.

"She would always be ours." Stef said. "Besides, if it came down to it, I'm pretty sure she'd pick us over Brandon."

"You think so?" Lena asked, turning her head to look up at Stef while her chin remained rested on her shoulder.

"I do." Stef smiled at her wife. "That girl would pick family over love any day." She said with a contagious certainty.

The two of them turned back to the girl in question and continued to watch her until she finally uncurled herself and pumped the ground making the swing move gently, a small smile gracing her lips, unaware that she was being watched by the two people that were going to be there for her for the rest of her life.


End file.
